The establishment crisis in the Netherlands largely ignores Flevoland. This is demonstrated in the Climate Impact Atlas, which also includes our province. There is some subsequent rot in a number of places, but the risk of this is very low. There may be subsidence in the area around the Maxima power station in Lelystad, near Flivokost Haven.

“Many buildings in the Netherlands are built on unstable soil. For this reason, more than 400,000 buildings in the Netherlands are expected to suffer foundation damage,” says the Environment and Infrastructure Council. According to the maps, this mainly concerns Zealand, North Holland and Friesland.

In Flevoland the problem is exactly the opposite. Because reclaimed land is built on the seabed, the parks, streets and fields here are submerged, and not so many houses. Endemism, as it is called, is affected by the composition of the soil, but also by the level of groundwater. The ground is falling more quickly in a number of places in Lelystad, Dronten and Nordostpolder.

The pace and extent of land subsidence could have serious consequences on where building and farming could take place in Flevoland. The Zuyderzeeland Water Board indicated at the end of last year that due to subsidence, agriculture may not be possible everywhere in Flevoland.

Maxima power plant in danger?
The Maxima power station is located in an area where subsidence may occur. A company spokesman said the plant itself was not in danger. The power plant is located on an artificial island that was built with a huge number of piles during the construction of reclaimed land. In 2008, additional reinforcements were added with the construction of the new existing power station.